The Beltrán-Leyva Cartel
The Beltrán-Leyva Cartel (Beltrán Leyva Organization or BLO) (Spanish: Cártel de los Beltrán Leyva or CBL) was a Mexican drug cartel and organized crime syndicate founded by the four Beltrán Leyva brothers: Arturo Beltrán Leyva, Carlos Beltrán Leyva, Alfredo Beltrán Leyva and Héctor Beltrán Leyva. The cartel was responsible for cocaine transportation and wholesaling, marijuana production and wholesaling, and heroin production and wholesaling. It controlled numerous drug trafficking corridors, and engaged in human smuggling, money laundering, extortion, kidnapping, murder and gun-running. Once one of Mexico's most powerful drug cartels – which effectively infiltrated the ranks of various Mexican government agencies and even Mexico's Interpol – its last known leader, Héctor Beltrán Leyva, is currently a fugitive with multi-million dollar rewards on his head by both the United States and Mexican governments. The capture on August 11, 2011 of one of the cartel's former top lieutenants, called "the last Beltran-Leyva link of any importance", prompted Mexican authorities to declare the cartel disbanded and extinct. History Born in the Sinaloan countryside in the 1960s, the Beltrán Leyva brothers – Arturo, Carlos, Alfredo and Héctor – worked closely with Joaquin Guzman Loera, the leader of The Sinaloa Cartel, during decades of smuggling. Sensing a void in rivals The Gulf Cartel after Osiel Cárdenas Guillén arrest on March 14, 2003, the Sinaloa Cartel began to move into Gulf Cartel territory. Both gangs fought each other in northern Mexican cities, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of people, including some civilians, police and journalists. About 90% of the deaths are of drug traffickers. In 2004 and 2005, Arturo Beltrán Leyva led powerful groups of assassins to fight for trade routes in northeastern Mexico for The Sinaloa Cartel. Through the use of corruption or intimidation, the Beltrán Leyva Cartel was able to infiltrate Mexico's political, judicial and police institutions to feed classified information about anti-drug operations, and even infiltrated the Interpol office in Mexico. The last cartel leader, Héctor Beltrán Leyva, apparently has been inactive and remains a fugitive; the U.S.A. is offering a reward of USD $5 million for information leading to his arrest. while the Mexican government is offering a USD $2.1 million reward. During 2010, a former Beltran-Leyva cartel liuetenant by the name of Óscar Osvaldo García Montoya (a.k.a: El Compayito), attempted to regroup some cartel remnants under a gang he called La Mano Con Ojos. García Montoya was arrested on August 11, 2011; the Attorney General of Mexico had placed a $5 million peso ($400,000 USD) bounty for his capture. Mexican authorities stated that García Montoya was "the last Beltran-Leyva link of any importance", and that the cartel has been disbanded. Allied forces of The Los Zetas Organization and Beltrán-Leyva remnants clashed on April 28, 2012 with gunmen of The Sinaloa Cartel in the Choix mountains. At least 32 armed men were confirmed dead. The renewed fighting in Sinaloa state between the BLO and Sinaloa Cartel is supposedly sparked by the incursion of the Sinaloa Cartel and its allies in Nuevo Laredo, traditionally the biggest Zeta stronghold. Switch of alliances The arrest of Alfredo Beltrán Leyva (a.k.a. El Mochomo) ('The Desert Ant') on January 20, 2008, was a huge blow to The Sinaloa Cartel, as he allegedly oversaw large-scale drug-smuggling operations and was a key money launderer for the cartel. In apparent revenge for the arrest of his brother Alfredo, Arturo ordered the assassination of the commissioner of the Federal Police, Édgar Eusebio Millán Gómez, and other top federal officials in the Mexican capital. One group of these hit men was captured in a Mexico City house with dozens of assault rifles, pistols, grenade launchers, 30 hand grenades, and bullet-proof jackets bearing the legend FEDA – the Spanish acronym for 'Special Forces of Arturo'. Apparently, the Beltrán Leyva brothers blamed their boss Joaquin Guzman Loera for their brother's arrest, and ordered the assassination of Guzmán's son, 22 year-old Édgar Guzmán López, which was carried out in a shopping center parking lot by at least 15 gunmen using assault rifles and grenade launchers. The residual impact of Alfredo’s arrest not only undermined long-term Sinaloa alliances, but resurrected animosities between rival cartel leaders Joaquin Guzman Loera and Arturo’s new allies, The Juarez Cartel, and provided the catalyst behind the bloodshed in Mexico’s most-violent city: Ciudad Juárez. The Beltrán Leyva brothers, and those loyalists who departed the Sinaloa Cartel with them, allied with Los Zetas, causing an escalation of conflict in strongholds shared uneasily by "old" Sinaloa leaders. In February 2010, the Beltrán-Leyva Cartel and The Los Zetas Organization engaged in a violent turf war against the new alliance integrated by The Gulf Cartel, The Sinaloa Cartel and La Familia Michoacana Cartel in the border city of Reynosa, Tamaulipas, rendering some border towns "ghost towns". Official reports from early 2010 revealed infighting for control of the cartel and its territory. One faction was led by lieutenants Édgar Valdez Villarreal and Gerardo Alvarez-Vazquez, while the other was led by Héctor Beltrán Leyva and his lieutenant Sergio Villarreal Barragán. On April 2010 Héctor Beltrán Leyva created a short-lived cell or branch in Morelos state called South Pacific Cartel (Cartel del Pacífico Sur) best known for having employed a 12-year-old gunman and executioner. Assets The cartel's assets included: *Dominance over drug and other illegal activities at airports in Mexico, Monterrey, Toluca, Cancún, and Acapulco; *Hotels and restaurants constructed to launder money in Cancún, Acapulco, Cozumel, and other resorts; *A working agreement with The Los Zetas Organization. *Supply corridors for moving marijuana, heroin, and methamphetamine from the Andes to the Arctic; *Capability to extort, launder money, run guns, smuggle humans, promote prostitution and carry out kidnappings; *Operations in Mexico City, Chiapas, Guerrero Mexico State, Morelos, Nuevo León, Querétaro, Quintana Roo, Sinaloa, Sonora, and Tamaulipas, as well as in the United States and Canada; *Access to some high-ranking public figures and Army personnel whom they bribed or intimidated. ;Former suppliers The Beltrán Leyva brothers’ Colombian cocaine supplier, Ever Villafane Martínez, was arrested in Morelos in August 2008. After that, the organization pursued a relationship with Víctor and Darío Espinoza Valencia of Colombia’s Norte del Valle cartel. Bounty The United States is offering a $5 million USD reward for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Héctor Beltrán Leyva. Captures Alfredo Beltrán Leyva was captured on January 20, 2008. Arturo Beltrán Leyva was killed by Mexican Marines in a shoot-out on December 16, 2009. Carlos Beltrán Leyva was captured by the Mexican Federal Police on December 30, 2009, in Culiacán, Sinaloa after showing authorities a fake driver's license. On April 22, 2010, a cartel lieutenant Gerardo Alvarez-Vazquez was captured on the outskirts of Mexico city; the U.S. had been offering a $2 million U.S. bounty for his arrest. Édgar Valdez Villarreal was arrested on August 30, 2010 outside Mexico City. On September 12, 2010 Sergio Villarreal Barragán was arrested in the city of Puebla, east of Mexico City. Héctor Beltrán Leyva is still at large. The August 11, 2011 arrest Óscar Osvaldo García Montoya (a.k.a: El Compayito), a cartel liuetenant, was called "the last Beltran-Leyva link of any importance".